Devour three darkly romantic adventures and sharpen your knowledge of how to catch a vampire - and perhaps a handsome Drake brother of your own - in this breathtaking bind-up, only available in eBook format.
A Killer First Date Lucy Hamilton in mad about her best friend's brother, Nicholas Drake. Who wouldn't be? He's super sexy and deliciously dangerous. And Nicholas thinks Lucy is hot too. But what with all the life-and-death drama in their hometown of Violet Hill lately, they've not been on a first date - not officially. It's time they got away from it all. But that's easier said than done when your boyfriend was born into an ancient vampire dynasty . . .
A Field Guide to Vampires: Annotated by Lucy Hamilton Every new recruit to the Helios-Ra Society is issued this guidebook, with secrets to the inner workings of the vampires they are hunting. But when new recruit Lucy Hamilton gets her hands on a copy, she can't help but add a few notes of her own. After all, she has first-hand knowledge of the various vampire societies that often contradicts the conventional wisdom of her new academy.
Corsets and Crossbows It is 1816 and it's time to make room for new traditions! Rosalind Wild thinks it's time for the Helios-Ra to give full membership to the female descendants of the society. So when Rosalind interrupts a plot to assassinate the leader of the Helios-Ra, she sees an opportunity to prove her worth. But she never expected the assassin to be someone so irresistible, and off-limits. Written as a series of letters to a close confidante, this e-novella gives a glimpse of the early days of the vampire-hunting society as seen through the eyes of the feisty ancestor of Hunter Wild, Quinn Drake's girlfriend.
Lost Girls The fight between Drakes and vampires starts here! The thrilling story of how Liam Drake met his perfect match.
Alyxandra Harvey is the author of The Cinderella Society, The Dainty Devils, The Drake Chronicles, The Witches of London, Haunting Violet and more! She likes chai lattes, tattoos, and books. Sometimes fueled by literary rage.
I read each of these short stories & novellas as ebooks when they were released last year but I thought I'd put all my reviews together in one place for anyone who is considering buying the book. If you're a fan of the series and you haven't already read these novellas then I'd say it's well worth investing in this collection. If they bring out a paperback I'll definitely be buying a copy to sit on my shelves with the rest of the series.
Please note that as these short stories slot in at different points of the series some of these reviews may contain slight spoilers for earlier books.
A Killer First Date - 4 stars
It's no secret that I love Alyxandra Harvey's Drake Chronicles series, these books are just so much fun to read and always have me laughing out loud all the way through! So when I spotted this short story for just 65p on Amazon UK for the Kindle I bought it without even reading the description.
Lucy has been my favourite character ever since the first book - I love her snarky sense of humour and the fact that she is so fearless despite being the only human hanging out with the Drake family - so I was delighted when I realised that this is the story of her first official date with Nicholas. A Killer First Date fits into the series between Out for Blood and Bleeding Hearts and is told from both Lucy and Hunter's points of view as they go on a double date with their respective Drake brothers. Hunter is fast becoming another favourite character in the series and I would have a hard time picking between Nicholas and Quinn so I really enjoyed getting another glimpse of their lives now they are couples.
Although I wouldn't recommend reading this story before Out for Blood you won't be missing out on anything if you decide not to read it at all as it doesn't contain anything important to the series story arc. However I'm happy to recommend the story to fans because it contains everything you'd expect from Alyxandra Harvey. You get humour, action and kissing scenes with characters you love wrapped up in a short story that can easily be read when you don't have much time to spare. It's helped tide me over while I wait for Blood Moon to be released in June!
A Field Guide to Vampires: Annotated by Lucy Hamilton - 3 stars
Alyxandra Harvey has recently written several novellas to go along with her Drake Chronicles series, they are all quick reads and available for a reasonable price via Amazon for the kindle. If you don't have a kindle there are options to read the story on your computer or through various apps for other devices.
A Field Guide to Vampires: Annotated by Lucy Hamilton is the guidebook given to all new members of the Helios-Ra but with added snarky comments from Lucy. It does contain minor spoilers for the rest of the series so I wouldn't recommend reading it until after the 4th book (Bleeding Hearts).
The guide includes everything that the Helios-Ra know (or think they know) about the different vampire groups and the Drake family. It also gives you some interesting snippets of the Helios-Ra history and information about some of the most famous vampire hunters since the society was first formed. Considering this is Lucy's personal copy of the guide she obviously hasn't been able to resist adding her own sarcastic comments and I'm sure any Lucy fan will enjoy reading them. Although I enjoyed reading this I have to admit that it was shorter than I expected it to be, I would have liked it to have been longer and had expected to see more of Lucy's comments. It was still a fun read though and worth picking up if you're a major fan of the series.
Corsets and Crossbows - 4 stars
Alyxandra Harvey has recently written several novellas to go along with her Drake Chronicles series, they are all quick reads and available for a reasonable price via Amazon for the kindle. If you don't have a kindle there are options to read the story on your computer or through various apps for other devices.
Corsets and Crossbows is set in the early 1800's so can be read as a prequel to the series or at any other time because it contains no spoilers for the main storyline. The story is told using a series of letters from one of the first female members of the Helios-Ra; Rosalind Wild, to her friend Evangeline. Rosalind wants nothing more than to prove that women can be as good at vampire hunting as men are but although she has been allowed to join the Helios-Ra she hasn't exactly been welcomed with open arms. When she uncovers a plot to assassinate their leader she sees it as the ideal way to prove her worth.
This is an enjoyable quick read and has the same humour to it that the Drake Chronicles books do. Although there is no crossover of characters from the rest of the series it was nice to see a glimpse of Helios-Ra history. Rosalind is an ancestor of Hunter's and it shows that her family has always contained it's fair share of spunky women - you can see where Hunter gets it from! I'd recommend this for any fan of the series.
Lost Girls - 4 stars
I read this novella as an extra bonus the UK paperback of Blood Moon.
Lost Girls tells the story of how Liam and Helena first met. I don't want to say much about the story because it would be too easy to give spoilers but I really enjoyed getting to see them both before they married and had the children. It's easy to see them just as parents in the rest of the series and not think about the lives they had before they met so I liked this extra side to them. It was also great to get a better idea of how and why Helena became the kick ass mum that she is now.
This is a collection of short stories from the world of the Drake Chronicles. I really enjoyed them all and think all fans do too!
A Killer First Date
Nice! Finally Nicholas and Lucy get to on a date and it turns out to be double date with Quinn and Hunter!
A Field Guide to Vampires: Annotated by Lucy Hamilton
This was a nice guide to get to know more about Helios-Ra. I liked how this was the copy Lucy stole from Kieran and her annotations are hilarious.
Corsets and Crossbows
This was a story told through letters from Rosalind Wild -an ancestor of Hunter Wild- to a close friend during the year 1816. It was interesting and nice to know another Wild ended up with a vampire.
Lost Girls
This was really great. I always wondered how Liam and Helena met and I was amazed. This just might be my favorite in this collection!
I only read two novellas out of this - the rest I had already red. The first was good, the second was a little more dry - but then it was a textbook. Literally. Lucy's asides made it more fun though. But if you liked the Drake Chronicles I recommend it!
A collection of intriguing short vampire stories in the world of the Drakes. Glimpses into both the past and present, I think if you’ve read the books these would be like chocolate for dessert. As I haven’t yet, they left me hungry for more, a condition I hope to rectify soon!
So this e-book finds place after the third book in The Drake Chronicles series: "Out For Blood", which by the way is my favorite of the series so far. The story follows Lucy and Nicholas and also Hunter and Quinn. They all go on their first real date on a carnival. Of course it doesn't turn out the way they all want. I was really happy to read more about Quinn and Hunter because Quinn is my favorite Drake brother and I think Hunter is the perfect girl for him. I just love the way they are together. And Quinn is the reason why Out For Blood is my favorite Drake book. As always the story was excellent. A fast, cute read. I was really excited to read this one because I love The Drake Chronicles a lot. Actually, I just love everything Alyxandra Harvey writes. She never ever has disappoint me with any of her books and I've read all of them. All five stars. So be sure to check them out!
A Field Guide to Vampires: Annotated by Lucy Hamilton
Another amazing e-novella by Alyxandra Harvey. Wether it's physical books or e-novellas, she always manages to write delightful page turners. This one is Lucy's guidebook, which every new recruit at the Helior-Ra gets. Of course Lucy can't help herself and writes notes on some pages of what she really thinks. And isn't that how we know Lucy and why we love her? I really liked this guidebook because not only we get more information about anything from the Drakes world, it's also hilarious with Lucy's notes. It's funny to see how her actual experiences sometimes contradict the Helios-Ra guidebook. Lucy is one of my favorite female characters in the Drake Chronicles so of course I love this book and gave it 5/5 stars! Now I'm waiting for the next Drake book "Blood Moon" which I bet will be fantastic as always.
Corsets and Crossbows
Yes! Another Drake Chronicles e-novella. I'm a big fan of anything Alyxandra Harvey writes and as always she hit the jackpot. The title alone is killer: Corsets and Crossbows. Awesome title and I love that it's set in the 1800's. I love novels from that time. Haunting Violet, also by Alyxandra Harvey is also set in that time by the way. (Go read it now!) Anyway... this Drake novella is about an ancestor of Hunter Wild (She appears in the Drake Chronicles) and the story is wriiten in a series of letters. At first I wasn't sure how I was gonna like this but it's really amazing! I kept wanting to turn (or rather click) the pages and read on and on. I loved Rosalind's character and of course the hot vamp Dante Cowan. I really liked how it ended. So romantic! If you like Alyxandra's writing or just anything vampire related you should go read The Drake Chronicles!
Lost Girls
Ah! I enjoyed this novella about Helena of sixteen years old and Liam back when they first had met. I've always wondered about them and how they started out. Their story is amazing. I kind of wished Alyxandra would write a series about them and every adventure they went through. Helena is as kickass as we know her from the Drake Chronicles only younger. Liam. Oh my god. I love him so! *dreamy sigh* I definitely has his son's charms. Oh yes. So I really really want to read more about them. But that'll probably be hopefull wishing. But overall an amazing story about Helena and Liam that every Drake lover should read.
All of the novella's and story releases collected into one edition. How could I resist! This was how I finally got my hands on "Lost Girls" but you'll find the reviews for each of the stories under their individual Good Reads pages, too. So here they are as follows.
Corsets and Crossbows (Drake Chronicles 0.1) I did not expect to end up either feeling as bored during or as amusedly loving of this book as I felt in completely different parts. I madly, deeply, truly love epistolary fiction, so that drug me in right away. I love a one sided format, that leaves you asking questions, looking into the past, only getting one half of the story or the comments, but it was a wild, wonderful ride regardless.
Lost Girls (Drake Chronicles 0.5) I am super in love with the parents from the series, so I loved getting to see more of how they became who they were. Except I'm so so so left wanting more. This is the promise of the whole world about to unfurl in front of them "in two years" and I want to know everything. But then that's true of every single part of The Drake Chronicles. I want to know everything about everything everywhere in this whole world and timeline and etc. Forever. End without end.
A Killer First Date (Drake Chronicles #3.5) Pretty much what it reads on the tin: A killer first date! A mix of our couples, a match of crazy that loves to throw itself in at every available turn, while people are trying to get in a good time finally, around all the insanity happening in the shotgun pace of the books themselves.
Delightful!
A Field Guide to Vampires: Annotated by Lucy Hamilton (Drake Chronicles #4.5) First and foremost -- Lucy, I love you, and your snark.
Most of this we knew, but it was fun to see it all put together like a text book. My own Drake version of the Harry Potter texts. Color me happily reading through this, pouring over all the details grinning like a little kid, at my favorite series, even through the blatant bias of the 'text book writers.'
Definitely not as good as the actual series. I felt the Helios-Ra textbook novella was a weird addition and didn't end up reading it because the writing was so dry. My favourite short story from the collection was Lost Girls - it was nice to get some insight into Helena and Liam's backgrounds (although I did find it a little disturbing that she was only 16 and he was a lot older). All in all, if you enjoyed the Drake Chronicles series you'd probably enjoy this, but I'm not sure it's really worth the hassle.
I purchased this in order to read Lost Girls. (I already have the other short stories) I am not a fan of how the only way you are able to get a certain short story is when it is combined with all the others that were sold seperatly at one time.
That being said I do LOVE this series and love reading about all the characters. It is a nice addition to the series. Was sad to see the series end.
I have read the other shorts in this book before but not the hand guide which, is why I picked this up. How could I resist getting more of Lucy and her quirks?
I miss Lucy! Actually, I just miss this series. Lucy was by far my favorite characters and I absolutely loved all her sarcastic and witty comments written in the margins of the Helio-Ra handbook. They were so classic Lucy and reminded me all over again why I love her.
Vampire Bites Review: A short little ebook that gives you a quick and funny view on the world of the Drakes.Unfortunately, I can't find it anywhere! Still awesome though!
I absolutely love these short stories so much, i love the characters and it was great to read a little more of my favorite characters. I totally recommend these